February 2, 2018 1:53pm ESTFebruary 2, 2018 1:53pm ESTOn Saturday, Valentina Shevchenko has an opportunity to prove she has star potential, though if she loses, it could throw many things awry.(Getty Images)

When Valentina Shevchenko’s debut in the newly minted flyweight division was first announced, many within the mixed martial arts community reacted with surprise and confusion.

Here was a former title challenger, fresh of a split decision loss to Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 215 in Edmonton, ready to begin her journey in the 125-pound weight class and instead of being inserted directly into a championship matchup with Nicco Montano, “Bullet” was booked to compete on an early February Fight Night event.

In Brazil. Against a UFC newcomer. One who looks grossly overmatched on paper.

“What gives?” asked the masses, though not in such polite and simple terms.

According to the vocal majority on social media, Shevchenko should have been tabbed as Montano’s first challenger and given every opportunity to claim UFC gold and become the face of the division in expedient fashion.

She’s a familiar name and shouldn’t have to waste her time taking on an unknown neophyte on a random Saturday evening on FS1. To many, this is a Monopoly situation — do not pass Go, do not collect $200 — except instead of going directly to jail, Shevchenko should go straight to the top of the list of contenders and into another championship fight.

Personally, I never understood it and think booking her against Priscila Cachoeira on Saturday is absolutely the right way to go.

First and foremost, she’s never fought at flyweight, so making sure that she can hit 125 (or 126) on the scale Friday morning in Belem is a good idea.

How many times in the last couple years have we gotten heated when an important fight or one we’re all stoked to see gets scrapped at the 11th hour because someone’s weight cut has gone sideways? It’s the kind of situation that cripples fight cards and dogs the competitor for a number of fights — or in some cases, their entire careers — and it would be promotionally irresponsible to book the first UFC women’s flyweight title fight with a competitor who has never made championship weight in the past.

Montano won the title by defeating late replacement Roxanne Modafferi when fellow finalist Sijara Eubanks couldn’t make weight and she’s already been declared an undeserving titleholder by fans and media. She’s already fighting an uphill battle and her road to recognition and acceptance would be made even more difficult if her first title defense was scuttled because her challenger failed to hit 125 pounds.

To me, booking Shevchenko here amounts to a trial run for a potential title fight — a chance to prove she can make the championship limit without issue before risking a major fight getting scrapped because something went awry during her weight cut.

Secondly, this is a chance to let her get out there and potentially collect an impressive victory that makes her look terrific heading into a title fight.

As much as she has some very good wins on her resume, her bout with Nunes in Edmonton wasn’t exactly thrilling and selling her as a serious threat coming off a tepid split decision loss doesn’t sound like a great sales pitch when you’re trying to get people to tune into a new division with a champion everyone has already written off.

Even if the hook is that Shevchenko is the proven challenger coming down in weight looking to dethrone the placeholder champion, similar to the way Joanna Jedrzejczyk ended Carla Esparza’s reign at strawweight before she ever really got settled, we’re a year removed from her last victory. Unfortunately, her triumph over Holly Holm becomes less and less impressive with each passing loss the former bantamweight champ suffers.

If the aim is to have Shevchenko fill the Jedrzejczyk role at flyweight and ascend to the top of the division in the first post-TUF title fight, having her go out and collect a dominant performance on the road against a previously unbeaten opponent would be a great addition to her sizzle reel and make selling her as a deserving challenger even easier.

Lastly — and this the one that really gets me — let’s not pretend like Shevchenko is some kind of massive star who fans have been flocking to see at every turn. Diehards love her, sure. But even the hardcore set wasn’t exactly sold on the idea of her and Nunes running it back in the main event of last year’s International Fight Week card in Las Vegas.

Once it got scrapped, the anticipation for the contest fell off a cliff and nothing about the way the fight played out do anything to really bolster the 29-year-old standout’s standing as a must-see fighter.

She has the potential to be, but despite being booked to challenge for UFC gold on two separate occasions, Shevchenko still hasn’t really been put in a position to grow as a draw and elite competitor that someone with her mixed of skills and marketability should be.

Not only is she a talented fighter who has impressed in all five of her UFC appearances, but she’s also an attractive multi-time kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion and speaks multiple languages. On top of that, Shevchenko has a cool backstory, has older sister who is also a badass and could get a look in the UFC in the future — and she’s a heck of a dancer.

Other than the fact that English isn’t her first language, Shevchenko has all the elements to be a possible star in the company — and potentially the face of the flyweight division — but it hasn’t happened yet and no one likes when the UFC randomly decides to label someone a superstar right before they challenge for a title when they’d never done so in the past.

So this weekend is a chance for the UFC to get that ball rolling and see what they have in Shevchenko as things in the flyweight division kick off in earnest this year.

If everything goes well, she’ll turn in a blistering performance to get back in the win column and the UFC will have a challenger with star potential ready to fight for the title later this year.

If not — if she misses weight, doesn’t look great or happens to lose — it has come on a random Saturday night event from Belem, Brazil and not when Shevchenko is being counted on to help carry a major pay-per-view event.